


Let It Snow

by orphan_account



Category: Dancing with the Stars (US) RPF
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Family Vacation, Winter, and alex, with chmergatroyd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 01:31:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5520401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the following prompt: "We're strictly 'platonic,' but we're snowed in omg we're gonna have to repopulate the earth."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let It Snow

**Author's Note:**

> This is fiction, not reality.

From her position on the widow seat, Zendaya watched as Maks leaned over and kissed Peta’s forehead. His wife smiled up at him, her eyes filled with a kind of contentment that Zendaya could only dream of.  Only twenty-two years old, she knew that she still had time to find someone and settle down, but there were times when she watched her siblings with their spouses or Maks with Peta and felt a deep, painful longing.  

She had spent the last week on vacation with part of the Russian Army in upstate New York, skiing the slopes and staying in a large cabin nearby.  Although she loved them, it had still been difficult for her. It was the first time that she had been able to spend a long period of time with Maks and Peta since their wedding, as well as the birth of their first child.  The small moments of affection between the three of them were the worst part, from Peta lightly brushing a hand across Maks’ back, to Maks curling a piece of hair behind Peta’s ear, to both of them cradling their sleeping child in their arms.  Their motions were filled with so much devotion and happiness that it made her stomach ache.

She had been so busy in the last year that she had barely felt present at the wedding, let alone in all of the other events that had taken place in their lives.  She was so focused on her career, on trying to be successful in such a competitive industry, that sometimes she felt like she was losing contact with the people she loved the most.  Reflecting on the last year, she was beginning to realize that her accomplishments didn’t mean nearly as much when there wasn’t someone there to share them with.  More than that, she wanted someone to share her _life_ with.  

“We should probably put her to bed,” Peta said softly, her fingertips brushing over the light covering of hair on the baby’s head.  The baby was snuggled up her chest, her thumb tucked inside her mouth. She wore one of the cutest outfits Zendaya had ever seen.  She couldn’t wait to have a child of her own; she freely admitted that one of the things she selfishly looked forward to the most was picking out clothing for them.  

“We should probably go to bed ourselves,” Maks answered.  “She’ll have us up at least a couple times during the night.”

Peta nodded her agreement.  The exhaustion of being relatively new parents was clear within their eyes, but it did not seem to mar the pleasure that they clearly felt.  

“Let me say goodnight to my niece then,” Val said from the connecting kitchen.  He was finishing the dishes from dinner, but placed a plate back into the soapy water before drying his hands on a towel.  She hadn’t seen him nearly as often as she would’ve liked over the past year, but that hadn’t kept them from talking or texting nearly every day.  Despite how busy they both had been, their relationship had only grown stronger.  It never failed to amaze Zendaya just how much they were involved in each other’s lives, even six years after their season on _Dancing with the Stars._

Peta passed the baby over to her brother-in-law before letting Maks help her to her feet.  Val carefully cradled the little girl, nuzzling his bearded cheek over her soft, pink skin.  He murmured sweet nothings to her in Russian before kissing her goodnight and handing her over to his brother.  

“‘Night, _Bratishka,_ ” Maks said.  He wrapped an arm around Peta’s shoulders and took his family to bed. Val watched them walk away, a peculiar look entering his eyes.  Despite not being able to place the emotion apparent in them, Zendaya felt a keen sense of recognition.  It took her a few seconds to realize that they were filled with as much longing as she felt herself after watching the couple’s interaction.  

“Goodnight,” Val muttered after them.  As if by chance, their eyes met across the room, an intense feeling of connection and understanding rising between them.  Her stomach jumped, but she held his gaze.  He broke first, staring at the hardwood floor and running a hand through his hair.  

 _What the hell was that about?_ They had always been able to understand each other on a level that no one else could, but the feeling that that look had generated in the pit of her stomach…it had felt like attraction.  

She immediately shrugged that thought off.  No way had it been attraction.  Val was like a brother to her and siblings were _not_ attracted to each other.  She looked down at the wine cooler in her hand, peeling the label off of the bottle’s surface.  That’s what it was.  She was drinking too much.  No way in hell was she attracted to _Val_.

“Well, I’m off to bed too,” Alex said from where he was sprawled on the couch.  He was still getting over a bad breakup, which was apparent from the six empty beer bottles sitting on the end table nearby.  

“Let me help you,” Val said, approaching him.  

“I don’t need it,” Alex insisted, ignoring the hand Val offered.  He attempted to stand on his own, but promptly swayed and fell back onto the couch.  

Val raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.  

“Okay, maybe I do.” The corners of Val’s lips turned upward into a small smile as he helped Alex to his feet.  He glanced back at her, a measure of uncertainty visible in his eyes.  

Had he felt it too?That odd reaction that had been caused merely by looking at each other?  Perhaps he was just as startled and confused by it as she was.  She silently laughed at herself.  Right, like Val would _ever_ be attracted to her.  

Not that _she_ was attracted to _him._

This time she was the one to look away first, uncomfortable with the line of her thoughts.

“I’ll be right back,” he said softly.  She glanced up in time to see him swing Alex’s arm over his shoulder and help his best friend down the hallway.  

Zendaya tucked one of her feet beneath her on the cushion and turned to face the window behind her.  Although it was dark, the light from the cabin and the full moon lit up enough of the world outside for her to make out snowflakes gently falling to the ground.  That was a drastic change from what they had woken up to; it had been coming down so hard, with such a strong wind, that no one had wanted to venture out into it.  The local radio station had predicted ten inches of snow.  Looking outside, she would be surprised if they hadn’t received more than that.  

The house was silent around her.  The only noise stemmed from the occasional crackling of the wood in the fireplace.  The scent of cinnamon apples lingered on the air from the candles that Peta had lit earlier.  For some reason, it reminded her of home…perhaps because, in the last few years, a part of her had always associated the thought of home with the Chmerkovskiys.

Against her will, she thought back to what had just happened mere minutes ago.  It was ridiculous to even think about it – after all, he was her _brother._ And yet, the way her pulse had jumped, her palms had gotten sweaty, her skin had flushed, her stomach had warmed…all of it forced her to reexamine her original conclusion.  

She _wasn’t_ attracted to him… _was she?_

She swallowed heavily before swinging back around to face the empty room.  Suddenly overwhelmed with the need to do something with her hands, she rose from the window seat and made her way into the kitchen. After evaluating the six or seven dishes left in the sink, she carefully lowered her hands into the soapy water and began scrubbing.  But no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, her mind wouldn’t let her forget its question.  

Forget the fact that he had become her confidant for years.  Forget the fact that he was one of her closest friends and she considered him to be family.  Forget the fact that they had repeatedly told the world – and themselves – that their relationship was nothing more than platonic.  

_Was she attracted to Val?_

“Hey.”

The silence suddenly broken, Zendaya jumped.  Beneath the surface of the water, the slippery plate slid out of her hands and crashed loudly on the bottom of the sink.  Not thinking, she immediately swung around and pressed a hand to her heart.

“Don’t do that!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Val said.  “I didn’t mean to scare you. I…”  

His voice trailed off as his gaze slid down to her chest.  Looking down, she noticed that her sudsy hand was dampening her shirt.  She dropped her hand to her side, but a wet handprint still covered her left breast.  She swallowed before looking back up at him.  Their eyes locked on each other and warmth pooled in her stomach again.  Her breath caught at the look in his eyes.  

Holy shit.  She was attracted to Val.

The revelation completely took her by surprise.  It shouldn’t have, considering their interaction earlier, but it did, so much so that she felt a need to break the connection.  She swung back around and placed her hands in the warm water.

“I’ll finish washing if you want to dry.”

His answer was to slowly move beside her and pick up the towel.  She finished on the plate that she had been working on before passing it over to him.  She refused to look at him, simply letting the dish go before starting on a serving platter.  

They continued on in silence, neither of them knowing what to say.  There was tension between them, a tension that had never stilted the conversation between them before but weighed heavily on them now.  

“Maks and Peta seem happy,” Zendaya finally murmured.  

“They are.”  He sighed.  “They really, really are.”  They slipped back into an uncomfortable silence before he sighed again.  

“How are you, baby?”

“I’m fine,” she said immediately, her reflexive answer kicking in.

“I’m not your parents, your label, or part of the media,” he said, glancing over at her. She couldn’t help but meet his gaze in return.  “How are you really?”

She shrugged.  “Tired.”  She paused, thinking back on Maks’ interaction with Peta.  “Lonely.”

He didn’t say anything.  He simply waited for her to continue, knowing her well enough to understand that she would.

“I just keep thinking about the last year and…it’s not that I’m not grateful for the success and the platform to really make a difference.  I love what I do.  I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life.”  She took a deep breath, looking down at the platter in her hands. “But it still feels empty, like something’s missing.  And I couldn’t place what it was, but being here, with all of you, it’s reminded me that there are more important things in life than building your career.”

“I mean, obviously that’s important too,” she said, backtracking a bit.  “But…I want someone to share it with.  Someone who experiences the highs and lows with me.  Someone who I could support just as much as they support me.  Someone who wants to walk beside me as we go through life together.”  

She glanced back over at him, their eyes locking.  “Someone who fills me with such joy and contentment that…”  Her voice trailed off and she stared at him.  Rather than shifting uncomfortably beneath her gaze, he stared right back at her.  

Her words echoed in her ears and, as she stared at Val, the world around her shifted.  He had always been there for her, listening to her fears and frustrations and calming her with steady reassurances.  He had seen her in her lowest moments, experiencing them with her as she made difficult decisions and lost her footing along the way.  He hadn’t picked her up and led her by the hand on her journey; he had simply been there to catch her, help her stand on her own two feet, and walked alongside her as she built her empire.

The physical distance between them didn’t matter.  She knew that she could pick up her phone and call him, day or night, and he would be there for her in every way possible.  Being apart was hard; it always had been.  He was a part of her that she had never realized was missing until the first time they had been forced to say goodbye.  It still had the power to tear her heart out, but reuniting always brought her peace and happiness in such an indescribable way.  She had chalked all of that up to a sibling-like bond between them, but now, as she really examined their relationship, she recognized that she had never experienced the same things with her own siblings, nor felt what she felt for Val toward any them.  

Despite what she had told herself, he had never been like her brother.  When she had said that she loved him, it had never been platonic. And what she wanted, what she _craved…_ it wasn’t something that she needed to find, because it had been with her all along.  It was _him._

Looking into his eyes, she knew when he understood.  “Z –

“Oh…”  She swallowed, laying the platter down on the bottom of the sink.  

He took a deep breath. “When I looked at you earlier, I thought I saw…but I wasn’t sure if…”

“Do you…”  She let her words trail off, unsure if she could speak the words out loud.   _Do you feel the same way I do?_ He understood, as he always did.  He dropped the towel and cupped her face in his hands.

“I’ve felt this way for a long time, Z.  It took me a long to get used to it and an even longer time for me to accept it.”

“How long?”

“A few years.” She sucked in a breath, but he continued before she could speak.  “I didn’t want to rush you, baby.  You were so focused on building your career that I…I didn’t want to take away from that. So I tried to stay in the background, helping when I could as I watched your success grow.”  

“But you…”  She took a deep breath.  “But you want me?”

“I want you,” he confirmed, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear.  She was instantly reminded of when Maks had done the same for Peta and was forced to swallow a lump in her throat.  

“I want you in every way a man can want a woman.  As his friend, lover…”   _Wife_ hovered uncertainly between them, but neither of them voiced it.  

Pulled in by the emerald of his eyes, she allowed the truth to spill from her lips.  “I want you too.”

Immediately, he pulled her to him.  Their lips brushed lightly at first, but rapidly accelerated into a more heated kiss. Zendaya weaved her fingers through the curls on the back of his head.  Val pressed one of his hands to her lower back, urging her forward and pressing their bodies together.  She couldn’t help the low moan that erupted from her throat, but Val quickly swallowed it with his own mouth.  

Zendaya stepped backward, willing him to follow her.  He did, keeping pace with her as she moved closer to the island behind them. Before her legs could hit the edge, he picked her up and set her on top of it.  As he stepped between her legs, she wrapped her own around his waist. The contact made Val pull back.  

“Daya, this isn’t why I said what I said.”  His words were tinged with a breathlessness from their kisses.  “We don’t have to –

She placed a finger over his lips.  “I know. But I want to.”

He stared at her, trying to evaluate whether or not she meant what she said.  “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my entire life.”

“If you change your mind –

“You’ll be the first to know,” she finished.  Before he could say anything else, she brought his lips back to hers.  She trailed her fingers down his shoulders, across his chest, and around to his back before slipping them beneath his shirt.  He removed his lips from hers, letting out a shaky breath before using them to trace her jawline.  She tilted her neck to give him more access as he moved down to her throat.  She was burning.  That was the only possible explanation for how she felt as his hands and lips lovingly moved down her body.  

Too many clothes. They were wearing too many clothes.

She pulled at his shirt, trying to get her point across.  He leaned back long enough to help her guide his shirt over his head before their lips met again.  His hands slipped between them, slowly unbuttoning her shirt and slipping it from her shoulders.  For a moment, he moved away and took her in.  With the space between them, she reached down and lifted her camisole over her head and let it fall to the floor with everything else.  He sucked in a breath, taking in the midnight blue bra set against her caramel skin tone.  

“You’re so beautiful,” he breathed.  His eyes caressed her skin as tenderly as if he had reached out and done so with his fingertips.  

“I feel beautiful when you look at me,” she said, speaking the truth.  

Their gazes met, his eyes melting.  He reached up and helped her down from the counter.  Collecting their clothing, he took her hand and flipped the light switch. He led her to his bedroom in the moonlight, closing the world out as he shut the door behind them.  

She turned to him, running her hands over his shoulders and down his back.  

_I love you._

He slowly slipped one of her bra straps down her shoulder before gently kissing the exposed skin.

_I love you too._

She cupped his cheek with her hand and nuzzled her face against his hair.  Moving back, she took his hand and led him to the bed. She sat on the edge before sliding herself up to the headboard and laying down.  He crawled up her body and kissed her, weaving their fingers together as they sought out what had been so long in the making.

And afterward, as he held her against him and she rested her head on his shoulder, she whispered, “I’m sorry that it took me so long to figure it out.”

He picked up her hand and brought the back of it to his lips, gently kissing it.  “It’s okay.  You’re here now.”

As snow continued to swirl outside, they slept.


End file.
